p2pnet - rss feed: Hostel: Part II already online
p2pnet.net news: - Pirated DVD copies of Lions Gate’s Hostel: Part II are already on the p2p networks, although the movie isn’t due for release until June.
At 10:11 am Pacific:
29 May 07 - Movies - [D]Hostel Part II 2007 DivX - 890.28 MB
29 May 07 - Movies - [P][D]LL-Hostel Part II (2007) workprint-2Bros - 841.82 MB
29 May 07 - Movies - [P][D]Hostel Part II (2007)-workprint-2Bros - 841.82 MB
But apparently, it’s not a big deal
“It’s distressing and disappointing, but it will have no meaningful impact on the box office,” the Los Angeles Times has company president Tom Ortenberg saying.
But what’s really interesting is: this wasn’t the finished product. Instead, it was a working copy “in rough, unfinished form”.
In other words, this was yet another example of a leak from Hollywood insiders when the major studios are accusing Canada, in particular, of being one of, if not the, principal sources of illegal copies which are showing up around the world.
In fact, thanks to close to six months of high-pressure Hollywood lobbying, Canada is today scheduled introduce anti-camcording legislation.
Back to the unauthorised prerelease of Hostel: Part II, it may not be in quite the rough shape Ortenberg says it’s in.
“While looking for a pair of cheap sunglasses and a velour leisure suit down in Santee Alley, I ran across a man in the middle of the street selling a pile of Hostel: Part II DVDs,” says MovieWeb, going on:
I asked him how it was already on bootleg, and we got in a small argument about the film’s release date. After a fifteen-minute squabble, I purchased the disc for five dollars. The back of the case had the description for the first Hostel film. I thought I might have been hornswoggled.
Upon home inspection of the DVD, all I can say is that S. Mooridian is going to be in a lot of trouble. His name is watermarked on the print.
The flawless studio quality version contained on the five dollar disc is indeed Hostel: Part II. The words “AK-Bigel Entertainment Property of Screen Gems” obscure the lower portion of the screen, but other than that it is of superior quality.
This is a real shame, and could possibly hurt Hostel: Part II’s opening weekend numbers. This is Lionsgate’s tentpole film of the summer.
Even though I have the DVD, I will probably destroy it and watch the film at a theater. Most likely the Drive-in. Or, maybe I’ll take the disc to Eli Roth when I meet him at the junket.
But this is very far from being an isolated incident. As p2pnet has said repeatedly, there are all kinds of well-documented reports of leaks from deep within the corporate content industry itself.
One of the most revealing came from AT&T Labs which said of a total of 285 movies researchers sampled on the p2p networks, 77% were leaked by industry ‘insiders’ and, “Most of our samples appeared on file sharing networks prior to their official consumer DVD release date.”
[Does the girl in the pic look to you like she’s hanging upside down making a cell phone call? Just asking ;P]
Also See:
anti-camcording legislation - Canadian Movie Piracy Bill cometh, May 31, 2007
high-pressure Hollywood lobbying - Hollywood’s Canada piracy success, June 1, 2007
MovieWeb - Hostel II Bootlegs Already on the Street, May 29, 2007|
reports of leaks - Hollywood insider in upload scandal, February 23, 2007
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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
June 5th, 2007 at 9:57 am
This quote should be plastered on every billboard across the country. “”It’s distressing and disappointing, but it will have no meaningful impact on the box office,” the Los Angeles Times has company president Tom Ortenberg saying.’ No meaningfull impact on the box office”, interesting don’t you think?